THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 20, 1994 TAG: 9412200003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
I am annoyed by the criticism of Newt Gingrich concerning better use of orphanages and similar institutions.
I spent 10 years in Girard College, Philadelphia, a ``free'' private boarding school for poor, fatherless boys. I lost both parents before I was 18 months old. I have no recollection of them, but I do have wonderful memories of the years in Girard, which is affectionately referred to as the ``hum.''
There were 54 in my January 1934 class, and 26 of the ex-hummers survive. Those who live in the Philadelphia area meet once a month for lunch at the former Officers Club in the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Girard College will soon celebrate its 150th anniversary. More than 18,000 boys benefited from the generosity of Stephen Girard (who has yet to have his portrait on a U.S. stamp). Mr. Girard was the wealthiest man in the United States at his death in 1831.
In my time, there were 1,700 boys on the 42-acre campus. Now enrollment is down to a little more than 500. The decline commenced with Social Security and other welfare programs and the single parents preference of a monthly check for child care. Applicants must pass a battery of psychological tests and not be physically handicapped, and may be from outside the state of Pennsylvania now.
Girard College spends $21,000 per year on each student, and it does not cost the taxpayers a dime.
I believe institutional care to be far superior to foster homes, and I am sure it's more fun.
WILLIAM T. POTTS
Chesapeake, Dec. 7, 1994 by CNB